Flying used to be glamorous – you see footage from the 1950s of people on planes, all dressed like they’re in a cocktail bar. It also cost an absolute fortune, so what we’ve lost in swankiness with the arrival of bargain airlines, we’ve gained in the ability to actually get on the bloody things.
Fares might have dropped significantly, but modern air travel isn’t without its hidden expenses: surcharges for overweight suitcase, fees for your oversized hand luggage, and crappy £6 sandwiches so laden with salt that you need another two tiny £5 drinks to wash them down.
One Glaswegian dad managed to avoid paying extra fees for his luggage by simply wearing 15 shirts at once – as filmed by his son.
Good on you, Mr Irvine senior, for combining a fee dodge with an inadvertent tribute to Joey Tribbiani.
He’s not the only person to try and dodge extra fees, of course. One mum of a friend-of-a-friend has a designated “Ryanair coat” she customised with extra armpit pockets to carry all her accoutrements on board for free – inspired perhaps by this absolute hero who was 100% determined not to pay the airline’s higher bag charges when they were introduced last year.
Parents regularly use sneaky hacks to get all the extra bits and bobs they need to take on a plane. There’s nothing in the rules that says the nappy bag you’re allowed can’t be really big and also contain a week’s worth of grown-up clothes.
It’s the same if you’ve got a car seat or buggy that comes with a carrying case – nobody’s going to look in there, so they needn’t know you’ve shoved in six pairs of trousers, some impulse-purchased items and a big bag of novelty Portuguese sweets to take into work.
Another thing to try if you’re slightly over the weight limit? Buy one thing from duty-free and shove a bunch of clothes in the bag with it. It’ll cost you some money, but less than the luggage fee would be and at least you get a bottle of whisky out of it.